H A R D VV I C K E'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



11 



Epping forest. 1 lately saw a new and popular 

 natural history that did not mention this bird. 



I one time had a tame magpie that was very 

 sagacious ; he would amuse himself by playing with 

 a little dog, running and tumbling round and rouud 

 a few old trees, only just keeping in front of the 

 dog's nose, seemingly in a half-exhausted state; but 

 -when the dog was tired and would run no longer, 

 maggy would look as sprightly as could be; he 

 would throw up his tail, walk back and try to tempt 

 the dog to another run. This took place every 

 morning upon the appearance of the dog, who, after 

 some time, from force of habit, enjoyed the fun as 

 much as the bird. Maggy also had his dislikes, one 

 of which was a red-haired child : he would alight on 

 such a one and pick away most unmercifully. His 

 mischief was mostly a source of amusement to me ; 

 but some one thought otherwise, for, while he was 

 stealing grapes— which, by-the-by, was a favourite 

 pastime with him — a boy killed him. Although 

 a great thief, I honoured him with a glass case. » 



A tame magpie, not caged, will get a plumage 

 equal to a wild one ; but not so with the jay ; there 

 deems a difficulty in the moulting, the feathers not 

 coming to perfection ; consequently the health of the 

 bird suffers so much that, coupled with shyness, we 

 lose the real character of the jay when tame. The 

 magpie and jay are both mocking-birds, the former 

 the better of the two. In a garden where either of 

 the above-mentioned birds is kept all small birds 

 are absent. 



A crested wren mostly remains in the woods and 

 hedges, however cold the winter may be ; yet, kept 

 in a cage, you can scarcely keep it warm enough ; 

 it must have a large cage lined with baize, the perch 

 also covered with the same. 



The hawfinch, avoiding man as he does when in a 

 wild state, is quite familiar in an aviary ; indeed, 

 after a little hard weather many birds that, as a rule, 

 would pine away, may be kept a whole season if 

 room is given them to fly about. 



The bullfinch maybe kept alive if taken about this 

 time ; at other times it is difficult to do so ; but it is 

 advisable to keep a pair for a few weeks, after which 

 the hen may be safely removed ; they should be fed 

 upon a mixture of hemp and canary seed. 



The whole family of wagtails will live in cap- 

 tivity. Although insectivorous, they will do very 

 well if fed upon German paste, giving them oc- 

 casionally a little live food. Wagtails do not hop, 

 but, like most of the larger birds, walk. 



Just now we have very large flocks of siskins, 

 which are known to fly periodically, that is, I 

 believe, every seven years. The siskin, or abcrdu- 

 vine, is an excellent bird to'match with the canary ; 

 they will assist to build the nest, and help to feed 

 the young. So fascinating is this bird, that frequently 

 the canary will leave one of their own species and 



pair with the stranger. Like the goldfinch, they are 

 very fond of hemp-seed. 



In November I procured a wren, and it seemed 

 to do very well in the aviary, feeding very readily 

 upon small meal-worms and German paste ; it was 

 quite amusing and instructive to watch its move- 

 ments ; it would scrub and roll in the gravel much 

 after the manner of the common hen. 1 am sorry 

 to say it made its escape, and so for a time put an 

 end to the study of the habits of the wren. 



Charles J. W. Rudd. 



SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMONDS. 

 By Prof. James Tennant. 



THE history of the discovery of diamonds at the 

 Cape of Good Hope was this : — In March, 

 1S67, Dr. Atherstone, of Graham's Town, received 

 by post in an unsealed, unregistered letter, a rough 

 diamond, which had been picked up on a farm in 

 the Hope-town district, and forwarded by Mr. J. 

 O'Reilly to Mr. Lorenzo Boyes, Clerk of the Peace 

 for the district of Colesburg, who sent it to Dr. 

 Atherstone, in order that he might give his opin- 

 ion as to the probability of its being of any value. 

 He had not seen a rough diamond before, but, after 

 taking the specific gravity, testing the hardness, and 

 examining it by polarized light, he decided that it 

 was a genuine diamond of considerable value; and, 

 perceiving the great importance of such a discovery 

 to the colony, he at once wrote to the Colonial 

 Secretary, suggesting that it should be sent to the 

 Paris exhibition, and afterwards sold for the benefit 

 of the finder. This fortunate person was a Dutch 

 farmer, named Schalk van Niekerk, who, seeing the 

 children of a neighbouring boor playing with some 

 bright stones, was struck by the appearance of one 

 which he offered to buy of the mother. She laughed 

 at the idea of selling the gem, and gave it to him 

 at once. He showed it to Mr. O'Reilly, who was 

 returning from a distant hunting expedition, and 

 so it finally reached Dr. Atherstone. At the close of 

 the Paris Exhibition, the stone was purchased by 

 Sir Philip Wodehouse, then governor of the colony, 

 for £500. Comparing the South African with other 

 diamond-fields, it had hitherto been unusual to 

 receive more than one large diamond — say of 40 

 carats — in the course of a single year, but the new 

 fields had yielded no less than five stones exceeding 

 this weight within that time. There was one of 

 56 carats, and another weighing 83 carats, which 

 arrived last year, and proved to be an exceedingly 

 beautiful stone. It is now in the possession of 

 Messrs. Hunt and Roskell, who have kindly pro- 

 mised to allow any one who wished to see it. I anti- 

 cipate that we shall have diamonds from this region 

 exceeding the Koh-i-ncor in size, and equalling it 

 in beauty when cut and polished. 



